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Home » Car Buying » What is the Difference Between Front Wheel Drive and Rear Wheel Drive?
  • What is the Difference Between Front Wheel Drive and Rear Wheel Drive?

    • Posted on Autos.com Editor
    • in Car Buying
    • on October 7, 2013

    Most passenger type cars that you can buy today will be front wheel drive (where the front wheels move when making a turn) as opposed to rear wheel drive (where the back wheels direct the turn). This is mostly for two reasons. The first reason, is safety. A front wheel drive car is easier to control in a skid and on wet or slippery roads because the drive wheels are also the wheels that do the steering. If the rear end of your car starts to slip on a wet or icy road, you can turn into the slide the way we’ve always been taught, and give a little added accelerator pressure to correct the skid under most conditions. The other reason most cars are front wheel drive today is that many repairs usually done at home are much harder to do without specialized tools.

    For more info, see What Does “All Wheel Drive” Mean?

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